Recent Posts

Medium-full strength, medium bodied, rich and full of flavors sums up the HVC San Isidro Hermoso. The oily mouthfeel gave way to a great array of flavors. The only downside is the pesky burn. But overall, a pleasure to smoke and will gladly purchase them with no regrets.

The Camacho Candela delivers those candela qualities while at the same time shows some peppery and earthy qualities. It had guts, and that is what you need with a candela wrapper to make it successful.

Visitors can arrange an ABAM factory tour. This includes a walking tour of the facility, seven cigars, and drinks at the Villiger Lounge. The cigar selection includes Villiger’s La Flor de Ynclan, La Libertad, Villiger 1888, and the Villiger Kreme.

The Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli Robusto started off with a pine note and a little metallic component but quickly moved to the core flavors that were presented for the majority of the experience. The price point is attractive, so fans of this flavor profile or of the Black Market in general will probably like this. For me, I was looking for a bit more complexity as the flavor profile was quite linear.

Protocol K9 by Cigar Dojo and Cubariqueño introduces a full-bodied pepper bomb explosion onto the palate. As with all other Protocol cigars, this beast is crafted at the renowned La Zona factory in Estelí. The blend is Nicaraguan through and through, topped with a dark and oily Nicaraguan Habano Rosado wrapper.

The Drew Estate Undercrown Sun Grown Corona is by far my favorite format in the line. Having smoked the Flying Pig, Toro and now the Corona, the Corona packs the most amount of punch in flavor intensities. The flavor intensities are also well matched by a stronger cigar.

Casa Favilli also had the honor of being the most visited cigar factory in Nicaragua in 2017. In addition to these honors, Casa Favilli was also awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2017.

This Diesel Grind Robusto was an average tasting experience for me. The underlying generic dry wood and cardboard/paper note was a bit monotonous. If you are a fan of AJ's blending style, this is a no brainer to pick up, especially at such a great attractive $6 price point. As for me, I will look towards other AJ offerings.

Medalist is a mild, smooth, complex and affordable cigar. 10-Count Boxes of Medalist will be available in Robusto, Toro, Churchill and Gordo sizes, MSRP ranging from $6.00-$7.00 per cigar. Alec Bradley Medalist sports a golden hued ‘shade grown’ wrapper from Honduras, a Honduran binder and long-fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua.

In the Dapper La Madrina Natural Toro, the wood and musty notes were pretty consistent throughout, there just wasn't anything that gave it any pop. It is great to see another very well constructed cigar, but I'm looking for a more interesting flavor profile to keep me coming back.

The more I smoke the Case Studies, the more I believe Ventura's marketing statement of selecting good cigars from various factories. The Ventura Case Study 05 was just plain and simply a good cigar showcasing sweetness, chocolate, earth and tapered spice. I would happily smoke more of these.

The cinnamon was a nice touch in the first third but didn't last much past that. The profile was then pretty standard and then some bitterness dropped things down in the final third, likely caused by the tight draw. It had a really slow smoke time of about 3 hours and with a good price point provides some good value.